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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833310">January</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterFairy_21225/pseuds/GlitterFairy_21225'>GlitterFairy_21225</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Allison Hargreeves is a good sister, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But with a relative, Child Abandonment, Daddy Issues, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Herb is A Gift, Hopeful Ending, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Past Child Abuse, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sad, not a baby fic, that he barely knows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:34:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25833310</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterFairy_21225/pseuds/GlitterFairy_21225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a rainy day in January that Klaus realizes something he already knew about for what must be the seven hundredth time, but it's only then and there that it truly hits him just how fucking true it is.</p><p>Klaus Hargreeves is an idiot. "You're an idiot."</p><p>"I'm an idiot."</p><p>XXX</p><p>Based on the comics, where Klaus has a kid and then leaves said kid. How that would work in canon and how that would effect his relationship with Ben.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>January</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So awhile ago I tried to write this kind of angsty 'Klaus ends the world' fic, and it involved a child character with the same name as the one I gave to the daughter in this story. They aren't connected at all. I just like the idea of naming his kid Mary because of the song.</p><p>By the way, she's not in this very much, it mostly focuses on the repercussions.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's a rainy day in January that Klaus realizes something he already knew about for what must be the seven hundredth time, but it's only then and there that it truly hits him just how fucking true it is.</p><p>Klaus Hargreeves is an idiot. "You're an idiot."</p><p>"I'm an idiot."</p><p>It's not a revelation. He's always known. Everyone's always known. He's not good at making decisions... Though to be fair, no one in his family is. But it's still saying something that Klaus could spend a decade on drugs, and when he finally gets sober he accidentally starts a cult. But this; This is the stupider than that. Somehow, he managed to do the single stupidest thing there was to do, all by complete accident.</p><p>He's a Hargreeves. A family which despite seemingly having little in common, share a few core traits. That being having superpowers, being assholes, and most importantly to Klaus given his current dilemma; Daddy issues the size of Luther.</p><p>God, Klaus hates his life.</p><p>If he really wanted to, he could trace all his worries back to the day he was adopted. If he really, really wanted to, he could trace it all back to the day he was born. If he didn't feel like being dramatic, he could say it all started when Five stranded him in the early sixties. If Klaus really thought about it, he could say it started when he first returned to his childhood prison for what he thought was going to be a rare and brief reunion.</p><p>Or maybe, just maybe, it was all because Klaus forgot to wear a fucking condom when fucking a fucking woman.</p><p>Look, luck is not something Klaus would say has ever been on his side, ever, at all. But by some miracle he'd lived his lifestyle as long as he could without getting any STDs and especially any unwanted pregnancies. There was occasionally some sort of protection involved, when there was something available- and one of them was sober enough to remember protection.</p><p>The woman wasn't a fellow junkie, or a clubber, or a one of his followers. She was just a girl he met at a disco. Klaus had been there in a sad attempt at- he doesn't know, maybe reliving some of the time he'd shared with Dave. </p><p>Klaus just wanted to feel something. Something a cult couldn't even reignite in him. He doesn't even know what, because somethings he felt for Dave and only Dave. No one else.</p><p>Her name is Vinh Ly. He didn't remember her name then, but the name's engraved in his memory now. She's the daughter of immigrants from Vietnam, and even though she was born and raised in the states, she reminded Klaus of the war. She was different enough from Dave to keep him from crying mid-act, but still... Still.</p><p>Except nine months later Klaus ends up in a hospital waiting room, because even though he was completely sober he still let it slip his mind that he has to wrap it before he taps it. He ends up with a daughter and she ends up dead.</p><p>Vinh's mother is surprisingly nice, especially to the Jesus-looking hippie who knocked up her daughter with the kid she died giving birth to.</p><p>"I'm so sorry about-" <em>Her mother? Your daughter? Vinh Ly?</em></p><p>The old woman just smiled sadly, tears in her eyes. "My daughter's with her father, now." There's no old man with her. Ghost or otherwise. Lost her husband and her daughter.</p><p>He sees Vinh Ly wander around behind her shoulder, but she doesn't notice him. Most ghosts notice his eyes on them almost immediately, but not her. She only has eyes for one person. The pink bundle on the other side of the glass.</p><p>Klaus takes a deep breath, tries to come up with words, wants to manifest the poor woman. No doubt he's sealing his fate by doing this, he'd have to stay if he does it. But this elderly woman deserves a chance to hold her daughter one last time and Vinh Ly deserves a chance to hold hers for the first.</p><p>But before he can, Vinh runs away, clearly distressed. If he didn't know that ghosts couldn't cry, he'd say there were tears in her eyes. Maybe Klaus should go after her, but his feet don't move. She runs far away from him and the window and the bundle and straight towards the light. The light the dead can only go through immediately after their death despite his own promises.</p><p>Klaus gulps and steals a glance at Ben, but looks away almost immediately.</p><p>Instead he walks to where she was standing. Looks where she was looking. A half Vietnamese baby wrapped up in a pink blanket. He could see tiny black eyes that remind him of buttons blinking, looking around the world in wonder. A wonder Klaus must have held at one point or another.</p><p>A wonder his father cruelly ripped away from him.</p><p>"Vinh wanted to name her Mary." The grandmother explained, voice thick with both her accent and with sorrow. "She was raised in America, she always liked the names here. Mary... It's beautiful isn't it?"</p><p>It is.</p><p>"What's your last name?"</p><p>That catches him off guard. "What?"</p><p>"For the birth certificate. What's your last name?"</p><p>Hargreeves.</p><p>Technically speaking, his biological mother had some German last name that wasn't Hargreeves. But if he has to use the word technically, he's already in trouble. And even if he isn't, his mother still fucking sold him. And technically his name is 0.4 Hargreeves because his father was a sadist who named his baby children after their millisecond of birth.</p><p>Klaus makes a choice then and there and says. "Oh, you can just use your name."</p><p>Realization sparks in the elderly woman's face and then sad resignation, but Ben stands, looking furious. In a warning voice he says. "Klaus."</p><p>Klaus and the grandmother speak for another hour, both polite no matter how awkward this is for them. All the while he ignores his brother's cutting words, even as he just says his name. "Klaus. Klaus. Klaus, I need to talk to you. Klaus, don't do this. Klaus, just think for one fucking second. Klaus!"</p><p>He'll send money when he has money to send. It's better this way. She'll be better off. Yeah, it'll suck, not having parents all. But it would be much worse if Klaus was around. God knows Klaus would be better off if Reggie kept his distance.</p><p>Plenty of people are raised by relatives who aren't their parents that end up just great. Like Harry Potter, or Luke Skywalker, or.... He'll think of a third example later. But first he has to get out of there.</p><p>"Klaus!" He leaves the hospital, saying goodbye to the old woman whose name he forgets to get, and steps into the rain. "Klaus!"</p><p>He walks in the rain without an umbrella like he's fucking Diego or something. Diego, who -<em>Mary</em>- that baby would probably adore if she ever gets the chance to meet him. The way Klaus did when they were just children.</p><p>"Klaus!"</p><p>He lets the rain pour over his head, wetting the hair and beard he's grown out without complaint.</p><p>"Klaus!"</p><p>Fucking January.</p><p>Things with Ben become harder after that. Ben thinks he's selfish for leaving -<em>his daughter</em>- that kid with her grandmother and then not being there for the first months of her life, bar that first day. Ben thinks it's selfish but it's the most selfless thing he's ever done.</p><p>But Klaus doesn't correct him. Not when his own selfishness is the reason Ben can't go towards the light the way her mother did. A fact neither have ever brung up and yet hangs between them like a loaded gun- Now more than ever.</p><p>Things fall apart. They always have. One way or another everyone he's ever loved usually gets fed up and leaves. Klaus just never thought Ben would be in that party.</p><p>On second thought, maybe he is being selfish leaving her.... No, no, he isn't. She's better off without him. Just like the academy was better off without him. Just like Ben would have been better off without him. What was selfish was forcing him to stay as a ghost and watch over his stupid ass for over a decade.</p><p>So it's him and his own selfishness that's to blame when things get increasingly volatile. Ben's always been annoyed by him, everyone's always been annoyed by him, but it's different now. A bitterness now accompanies his exasperated expression.</p><p>Maybe he's just jealous that Klaus let her go and not him.</p><p>It's ten months after -<em>the birth of his daughter</em>- that little side quest that Klaus decides to return to Dallas with a mission. A mission to save someone else. To do right by somebody.</p><p>It's Christmas next month, -<em>Mary</em>- she'll be one in two months. Her grandmother gave an address. Maybe if he's not busy, he can drop by. With a present maybe. Just to get Ben off his back. Maybe.</p><p>But he shouldn't think about that right now. Not with Dave alive and well in 1963 and about to sign up for his own death. Klaus can save him. And no matter what Ben says, it isn't another act of selfishness. Not when it will mean he'll never get to meet Dave in this timeline.</p><p>And forgive Klaus, but he just doesn't see how getting decked by the man he loves is the least bit selfish.</p><p>If Ben is rethinking his stance on Klaus, he doesn't say so. Or maybe doesn't know how to say so. He would've, even just a year ago, before all of this. But now he just watches Klaus leave with a sad look on his face and all Klaus can do is pretend he doesn't notice.</p><p>At the very, very, very, very, very least, Klaus miraculously bumps into the woman, the myth, the legend: Allison Motherfucking Hargreeves!!!!!!!</p><p>They've always been close. Less so near the end, as Klaus fell deeper into his addictions and Allison began seeking love through fame and reporters. But she's always been one of his favorites. She actually was his favorite for those interval years between Diego growing too bitter to feel like Klaus's best friend anymore and Ben becoming his full-time babysitter.</p><p>She's one of the few siblings he'd trust with his secrets. And by few, that means Allison and Ben. Diego was on that list when they were younger... Given everything that happened during apocalypse week, he might deserve that privilege again. (Spoiler alert: A few days later Klaus decides for certain that that's a no.... And with him already adding Ben to the list of siblings who get a hundred percent bullshit from him, the occasional deep shit list is still made up of one.)</p><p>Klaus might have the world's most useless filter, but he's always been secretive. A part of him wonders if when they were kids Allison got fed up with the walls he put up and rumored him into confiding in her. Oh well. Klaus tries not to think about it too much. They were just kids back then, and right now he could use someone who's not fucking Ben to talk to right now.</p><p>Or get drunk off their asses with. Either one is good enough for him. Okay, that's a lie. Getting drunk off his ass with his big sis (by one millisecond) is the better option. The much better option. </p><p>Ben obviously doesn't agree, his disappointed looks extending to him and a second party for once. It's not long before Ben's shaking his head and fucking off to wherever he goes when Klaus is naked or some shit. </p><p>Which is good. That's how Klaus wants it. Just him and Allison, like they're kids again. There were a few months in their teens when they would become drunk little skunks. But then his addictions really sunk in and she refused to take part in it. Good thing Allison's having just as shitty a time in the past as him, if not even shittier.</p><p>Yeah, apparently all the racist depravity of the sixties and now her marital issues were getting to her. Klaus was already hammered, so it's time for some good old fashioned drinking to avoid their issues.</p><p>And it doesn't fucking work.</p><p>It does at first. They're both giddy drunks, dancing and talking about -<em>broken hearts</em>- boy problems. Together they're summoned to reunite with the rest of their fam, and Klaus is happily reunited with all of one more of his beloved siblings, and it's the one who he doesn't even remember the last time he spoke to and also she tried to end the world.</p><p>But he and his second and third favorite girls come to the conclusion that they just gotta face the people they're hiding from. His stupid fucking -<em>cult</em>- alternative spiritual community is probably at the bottom of his list of people he needs to fix things with, but fuck his sisters' healthy steps towards self improvement, getting rid of those weirdos sounds a lot more easy than facing -<em>Mary</em>- Ben.</p><p>Still, he's not looking forward to getting real with the people who managed to follow him all the way to Dallas. At least Klaus can hold that conversation off as he and Allison wait to come down from their intoxicated states at her insistence. Fair enough, neither of them would be very credible unless sober given that Allison's story is crazy and Klaus's cult is even crazier.</p><p>And that's when their sad drunkeness kicks in.</p><p>"I'm a terrible mother."</p><p>Klaus looks at her in surprise. Of all the things he was expecting her to say, that wasn't one of it. His mind immediately goes back to January, but he doesn't say anything.</p><p>"I gave up on ever seeing her again." She admits, breathing hard. "It was a fear before Dad died and we time traveled, but then I was in the sixties and I just knew I'd never see my little girl again. And it killed me. It killed me so fucking much. I tried to move on, I threw myself in my activism and Raymond. I know it sounds bad, but thinking about her hurt too much to bear, so I tried not thinking. And now I have a chance to get back to her and it's just... Do I even deserve to have her back at this point?"</p><p>It sounds so familiar.</p><p>He's really glad Ben was fucking off away from them. Because Klaus says what he didn't say to him to Allison. "I did a bad thing."</p><p>Allison turns to look at him, concern burning in her eyes. </p><p>Swallowing, he continues. "Almost a year ago, I- uh- a year and a half ago there was this girl and we fucked and I forgot. I fucking forgot."</p><p>"Forgot what?" Allison asks, taking his hand. He appreciates it.</p><p>Klaus forces himself to answer. "To wrap it and tap it."</p><p>Allison looks confused for a moment but all to soon realization sparks on her face and then shock as she takes in the weight of it. "Klaus-"</p><p>"I saw-" <em>my daughter</em> "-her once." Allison doesn't respond. "She was tiny. And I figured we were tiny once, now we aren't. Instead we're currently psychos, hot messes, and assholes. And if tiny peoples could eventually grow up to be all of this-" He gestures to himself. "-The less of this should be around tiny peoples. If that makes sense."</p><p>Allison slumps onto the ground. "It does. They're better off without us, aren't they?"</p><p>Klaus sighs, slumping down with her and doesn't answer. He doesn't want to talk about this anymore. He doesn't tell her that Granny gave him any say over the middle name, and he especially doesn't tell her the only name that came to mind in that moment: Allison.</p><p>"Don't tell anyone else, okay?"</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>And that's that. For the time being. It's never just 'that' when it comes to his family though, is it? Anyways, some stuff happens, some other stuff happens, and then he's back with his dear old dad, being reminded why what he did last January was the right call. </p><p>He wants to shut Dad down for Diego's sake, but he doesn't. Suddenly he's a teenager again, despising his father more with every word coming out of his British mouth, but ultimately unable to stand up to the psycho. Maybe later he'll take a piss on one of his belongings or something but for now he's powerless and by god, does he hate his father. And at the very least, no one will ever hate him that much.</p><p> And then Ben is inside him.</p><p>Klaus can't even hold his family's indifference to the whole thing against them. Their lives are so weird he's also numb to it. </p><p>Anywho, by morning time he gives Ben consent to take over his sweet body without much coercion. Least he can do. Klaus has been holding off materializing him for the family, scared he'll squeal about what Klaus did. A 'not sober enough' here and a 'he's not here right now' there. </p><p>Klaus'll reunite them eventually, something everyone is clearly itching for, even if his other siblings have other worries right now. He'll do it, when he's sure Ben won't tell them about -<em>Mary</em>- January. Or until he readjusts to the idea of his siblings' disappointment.</p><p>He hopes that's soon though. For Ben's sake.</p><p>Despite how things have been, he really does love his brother. It's nice, seeing how happy he is to feel alive. Smelling flowers, running around with the girl he digs, laughing and breathing. Klaus is left to laugh at Ben's awkward attempts at telling his little girlfriend that he can't get freaky with her even though she'd been in a threesome with Klaus a few months ago.</p><p>One thing stands out to him though. Diego tells Ben to run to the alley so they can all go home. And that's all well and good- even though it goes over the ten minute agreement. Klaus doesn't argue though. Doesn't force Ben out of him or something. </p><p>But while his brother runs, it occurs to him that if they all go home then he won't be in the sixties for next January. </p><p>But Ben doesn't bother to think about that as he runs to Luther and Five, and Klaus decides in a split second against asking him about it. Decides he's right. Everyone's better off with them all just going back to the present and leaving behind everything they created in the past. </p><p>Klaus can't stand letting Ben be in him any longer and pushes him out, with the side effect of covering his darling brother in vomit. He pants on the gravel and waits to be taken away from the sixties and cults and half-Vietnamese children.</p><p>But Five ends up throwing his suitcase up at the sky in anger and storming off with Luther following in his stead. </p><p>Anyways, Klaus goes to Allison and doesn't help with the dead body in her house. He and Ben do manage to have a whole conversation without either feeling like strangling the other. Almost like old times. Which is good. Really good considering it's the last conversation they have with each other.</p><p>Turns out ghosts can choose to go towards the light immediately after their deaths or they could go after finally, finally, finding peace. Klaus is happy for Ben. So happy.</p><p>Is this what it's like to not have closure with a loved one after they pass? For things to feel incomplete? They'd spent so many years together, snarking and sniping but their brotherly love only grew from something that wasn't enough to bridge the lack of understanding between them to something that actually was just that strong enough.</p><p>Yet in the past year, things got bad. Bad bad. Bad in a way Klaus just assumed they'd recover from eventually. Eventually. There's always an eventually. Death's never been final for him. Every overdose, every visit to the little girl upstairs, everything. Nothing ever felt permanent.</p><p>His brother dies? He's right behind him. His father's dead? Good, except oh wait! He's still fucking with Klaus. </p><p>And if it isn't permanent, Klaus never considered that it could be too late to resolve something. Maybe they could've gotten things back to normal eventually, but now they never will. They never discussed why things were how they were. Klaus never told him things he wishes he did.</p><p>So he goes to Vanya when she storms out. Partially because going with her to save her girlfriend might make up for how utterly unhelpful he's been. But also because she was the last person to talk to him. If there was anything Ben wanted him to know, he'd tell her.</p><p>That motherfucker. </p><p>So Klaus has just been stewing in his own guilt for years over nothing? He could've used this information -<em>last January</em>- awhile ago!</p><p>After a very difficult farm battle that Klaus mostly spent curled up in Luther's arms, they finally get back home only to find that while the apocalypse has finally, finally, been averted, the trainwreck that is their lives still hasn't stopped yet. Because Dad's alive again, Ben is Not Ben, and Klaus has to wait for that drink.</p><p>This fix is much easier than the last few. The Commission actually likes them now, or is at least run by a friend of Diego's, so things run a whole lot smoother than they would. Vanya, Allison, and Five take a briefcase back to the sixties.</p><p>Allison rumors Dad into forgetting their encounters entirely while Vanya meets with her girlfriend. Apparently, she didn't get rid of all the power she gave to the kid and according to the Commission became the world's first superhero. Sissy finally decides to screw it and comes to the future to be with Vanya and their son.</p><p>So finally, finally, it's all fixed. And the Hargreeves siblings can just chill in their mansion without disturbance. The world and moon are both intact, Ben is finally at peace, the six remaining siblings can not only be in the same vicinity as each other but also enjoy each other's company.</p><p>It's not perfect, but for once there isn't a crisis hanging over their hands. And as dysfunctional as their family is always going to be, they'll get through it. With the power of love and all that. Things are finally okay.</p><p>Mostly.</p><p>Klaus tells himself it's completely okay. </p><p>Allison rumored his cult to return to their lives, or at least try to get it close enough. Close enough is good enough for the timeline. Klaus wonders if that girl Ben liked so much ever made up with her parents. Also apparently there was that weird guy from the barn hanging around his followers, he was given a proper retirement fund. That makes for a fun story.</p><p>"What a fun story!" Klaus says after she tells him it.</p><p>"Yeah." Allison smiles. "It was a fun experience too.... Uh, so anyways...."</p><p>Klaus tilts his head to the side. "Yeah?"</p><p>"Vanya's giving violin lessons at her apartment, Five's visiting his mannequin ex, Luther is going out to find new hobbies, Diego's at a group therapy for people with shitty love lives, and yes, I will be accompanying him next month. But first you and I need to talk about... parenthood."</p><p>Klaus blinks at her, "Fuck."</p><p>"Fuck." She agrees.</p><p>"Okay then." At least the others aren't here. Of course, Five can just blink in at any moment, though he usually takes his sweet time when he visits Dolores. It's actually quite concerning. Maybe they should talk him into going to therapy with Allison and Diego. Which would be a whole week long battle within its-</p><p>"I told the Commission about Mary." Allison blurts out and he freezes.</p><p>"You did what?" Klaus whispers.</p><p>"Claire has powers." Allison tells him. "My powers. Rumors."</p><p>Klaus swallows, taking in this information. "So you mean to tell me, that-" <em>my daughter</em> -"she can see ghosts, and you thought it would be a good idea to give her to a place that who knows how many murderers go to work?"</p><p>Allison's eyes widen in horror, but Klaus can't pay attention. Tears sting in his eyes, threatening to fall as his breath starts coming out choppy and hard. A hand rests on his shoulder, a voice telling him to breathe. So he does. She doesn't rumor him, like when he'd get like this when they were kids, so it takes more effort. But Klaus lets it pass him.</p><p><em>His child- </em>She had his powers. His shitty, useless powers that were only ever good for forcing his dead brother to follow him around. Otherwise it was just pain and fear and the sting of disappointing everyone around him.</p><p>When he trusts himself to speak, he does so in a whisper. "Everything that's wrong with is me is because of me, Dad, and my powers."</p><p>"Oh." Allison breathes. She nods slightly and Klaus raises an eyebrow, wondering what she's about to do next. </p><p>"What?" He asks, harsher than he should have.</p><p>She shakes her head, throwing her arms around him in a hug he just has to return. "I'm petrified that Claire is going to make the same mistakes I did. That it'll all go to her head until she gets a dose of reality and hates herself half as much as I hated myself."</p><p>"Ally." He breathes. </p><p>"Listen to me." She grabs his hands. "Parenting is no cakewalk. Especially when we're us. And it hurts to think we could hurt them as much as we've been hurt. And we want to protect them. But we aren't sparing them any pain by not trying."</p><p>Klaus nods slightly, taking in her words. Ever since learning about why Ben stayed, Klaus hasn't known how to process. Somehow it never occurred to him that Ben could've wanted to stay all those years ago. That Klaus was the one helping Ben by being with his brother for over a decade.</p><p>"And at the very, very least.... We can't do worse than Dad if we tried." He looks at her in surprise, but then they both start laughing.</p><p>"What about her grandmother?" Klaus asks once they've calmed down. "Is she really okay with her grandkid being raised by time assassins?"</p><p>Allison looks away. "Her grandmother passed before we found her. She was in an orphanage."</p><p>"What? Why do all good people have to die?" Klaus complains.</p><p>"Not all good people." Allison says. "I left her with Herb."</p><p>""Herb? Diego goes to his place for poker every Thursday night." Klaus says. "I don't want anyone else to know about-" <em>the daughter I abandoned</em> "-her."</p><p>They're just now finally beginning to work as a family. His other siblings are finally understanding Klaus and he's finally understanding them. Klaus can't stand ruining that. Can't let them look at him the way Ben did towards the end.</p><p>He knows now more than ever that life and death are both fragile and he could lose his family at any minute. They couldn't understand, not the way Allison could. They'd hate him as much as Ben did. Or at least as much as Klaus thought Ben did.</p><p>Besides, if he has to be reminded of the worst parts of his brotherhood with Ben, he'd throw himself out a window.</p><p>"Okay." Allison nods, not questioning it. "So I'll meet with Herb and we'll discuss how to hide it until you're ready to tell them. Which I think you should, by the way. He is one of the few people our family trusts, so I didn't have many options."</p><p>"Could anyone close to our family really be considered 'trustworthy'?" Klaus points out, feeling fear spike in his chest at the thought of her being with another traitor. </p><p>"Herb's a sweetheart. He was basically cooing just looking at her." She smiles sadly. "It even reminded me of how Patrick looked at Claire."</p><p>"That's good." Klaus admits, but now there's another thing weighing on his shoulder. However he must of looked at Mary that January day, it can't have been the look Allison is describing.</p><p>"It is." Allison nods, a longing look in her eyes. Klaus feels bad, remembering her say that she wanted children with her second husband.</p><p>"I'm sorry you couldn't get Ray to come to the future with you."</p><p>Allison shrugged, sadness heavy in her eyes. "Nothing's changed. At least not the way things have changed with Sissy and Vanya. At least I got to see him again."</p><p>"And you ended it on a happy note." Klaus whispers.</p><p>Allison puts a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?</p><p>"We were fighting before he left." Klaus reveals. "We had been for awhile actually. Ever since-" <em>Mary</em> "-January." </p><p>"That really sucks." Allison says softly.</p><p>"Yeah." Klaus agrees. "I mean, after all that I didn't really want to talk about it. And Ben didn't quite get it the way you do, though how could he when I refused to tell him why I was doing the things I was doing."</p><p>They'd deteriorated back to teenagers, back to before over a decade of haunting, back to being brothers who didn't really know each other, and it was all Klaus's fault.</p><p>Klaus continues. "He gave Vanya one last message to give me. It was about some stupid thing that always bothered me from years back. So at least we kinda ended happy note? I don't know. I just wish that the last year of the world's most epic bromance wasn't just Luther and Diego Lite."</p><p>"He loved you." Allison said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.</p><p>"And I loved him." Klaus hummed. "I just hope he knew that."</p><p>"Of course he did." Allison says confidently. </p><p>Klaus smiles and hides his face in her shoulder. "I love you."</p><p>"I love you too." Her voice is soft, but then with a new nervousness she says."Klaus?"</p><p>"Yeah?" </p><p>"I'm going to be visiting them a lot. I wanna get to know my niece. No pressure, but if you want to meet her, I'd be happy to bring you along. The world might not be ending anymore but-"</p><p>"Our 'tits up' epiphanies still stand?" Klaus finishes.</p><p>".... Yeah."</p><p>Fair enough. Klaus had already left his relationship with two of the people he loves the most on sour notes. How much more is going to go wrong and how much is okay with ending exactly as they are now?</p><p>But before leaving him to think things over, Allison kisses him on the cheek. He looks at her confused. "I always love a good ole smooch from my beloved sister, but if I may ask; What was that for?"</p><p>"For how beautiful a name Mary Allison Ly is."</p><p>Klaus stares at her stunned, a warmth bursting in his chest and settling firmly in his heart.</p><p>Allison smiles before standing to leave. Over her shoulder, she calls. "Just say the word and the Commission will change it to Mary Allison Hargreeves. Or Mary Allison Ly-Hargreeves or Mary Allison Hargreeves-Ly. All still beautiful!"</p><p>He stares after her for a second before snorting. </p><p>And then it's fucking January again. A cloudy day with the sun hiding just out of sight.</p><p>The days pass by quickly and pretty soon he's shoving a teddy bear in a wrapped box -infant girls probably like teddy bears- and sneaking off with his sister like they're teenagers again. Allison has her own suitcase, one she uses to visit her husband in the sixties and her niece in wherever Herb lives.</p><p>The rest of their siblings are gonna fucking kill them whenever they learn about Mary, aren't they?</p><p>Oh well, it's January. What can you do? Klaus takes a deep breath and rings the doorbell. </p><p>Herb answers the door with a big smile on his face. "Allison! How are you?" He goes in for a hug, which she returns. "And Klaus!" And then hugs him as well.</p><p>"Bonjour." Klaus says politely, patting him on the back.</p><p>"Come in, come in."</p><p>It's a surprisingly normal sized party. Apparently the Commission has a daycare, plus earlier Allison dropped off Claire before getting him. But he only has eyes for one of the children. A half-Vietnamese one year old in a pink party dress who blinks up at him in wonder.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was not expecting all that Ben stuff, but I don't regret it. I knew I was gonna make him pissed, but I accidentally uncovered a problem I didn't know I had with season. </p><p>They were really assholes to each other this season, and not even in the brotherly way from the first season (except for Ben complaining about himself when Klaus was being tortured). And I realized that while that sucked, if they gave us a reason why, it could've made for an interesting storyline. </p><p>At the very least, they should've put the funeral scene earlier in the season. In the show it's introduced and resolved and nothing. It could at least give SOMETHING to their behaviors this season. Also, I know I altered their least acceptable actions, I just had to.</p><p>Also! ADDITIONAL SCENE I DIDN'T THINK FIT WITH THE ENDING:</p><p>"What the fuck are you people doing here?!" Allison says next to him.</p><p>"You seriously think I don't know where you idiots are at all times!?"</p><p>"If you wanted to keep it a secret, you really shouldn't have given her to my best friend. I see her every Thursday!"</p><p>"I just want Harlan to have a nice day with his cousins."</p><p>"It was supposed to be a secret?" Luther asks confused.</p><p>Klaus blinks at them and slowly turns back to the baby.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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